Whiting girl, 13, killed in Hammond crash

Theresa Paramo took her granddaughter to an orthodontist appointment Wednesday afternoon, like she'd done many times before.But on their way home to Whiting, Paramo's SUV was struck by a Highland man fleeing police, according to East Chicago and Hammond...

Whiting girl, 13, killed in Hammond crash

Theresa Paramo took her granddaughter to an orthodontist appointment Wednesday afternoon, like she'd done many times before.

But on their way home to Whiting, Paramo's SUV was struck by a Highland man fleeing police, according to East Chicago and Hammond police.

Julianna Chambers, 13, of Whiting, was killed and Paramo seriously injured in the crash at the intersection of Columbia Avenue and Gostlin Street.

In a news release, East Chicago police said officers were chasing a man and a woman in a Dodge Durango eastbound on Gostlin Street around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Michelle Quinn / Post-Tribune An Indiana State Police Trooper on Thursday sits at the intersection of a fatal accident that killed a 13-year-old girl Wednesday evening in Hammond. The accident was the second time a high-speed police chase resulted in injury in the last year. An Indiana State Police Trooper on Thursday sits at the intersection of a fatal accident that killed a 13-year-old girl Wednesday evening in Hammond. The accident was the second time a high-speed police chase resulted in injury in the last year. (Michelle Quinn / Post-Tribune)

Hammond police joined the pursuit earlier when the Durango entered into Hammond.

The driver of the Durango, a 31-year-old man, was taken into custody after the crash, but has not been formally charged.

East Chicago police said the incident started when his passenger, a 27-year-old East Chicago woman, attempted to steal a case of beer from a store on the 4700 block of Indianapolis Blvd.

An officer at the scene saw the woman with the beer and ordered her to stop, but she ran to the Durango and told the driver to "Go! Go! Go!" when the officer approached them, the release said.

The driver then threw the Durango in reverse and sped back out of its parking spot, trapping the officer inside the passenger door, according to the East Chicago police. The officer held on to the door in order to not get pinned to the Durango nor the car next to it.

Ignoring the officer's orders, the Durango headed into the southbound lanes of Indianapolis Boulevard, according to the release. The Durango then headed into Hammond, the release said.

At the same time, Paramo, 57, of Whiting, was northbound on Columbia Avenue with her granddaughter, identified by the Lake County coroner's office as Chambers, 13, in the back seat.

The two had the green light at Columbia and Gostlin when the Durango collided with Paramo, police said. The Durango hit Paramo's SUV, forcing her through a fence and into a grassy area outside Lang Ice Service's parking lot, police said.

The Durango was forced into the right lane of westbound Gostlin, just east of the intersection, according to Hammond police.

Paramo was taken to Methodist Hospital's Northlake Campus in Gary with critical injuries and was later airlifted to Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill., police said.

Chambers was taken to Franciscan St. Margaret Health in Hammond, where she was pronounced dead from blunt force trauma, according to the coroner's release.

Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. offered his sympathies to the Paramo family Thursday afternoon but was upset the accident happened in the first place.

"As mayor, I'm cognizant of the problem of high-speed chases, and we're reviewing everything. We have to make a determination why this happened during rush hour," he said. "I'll always have my officers' back, but there were a handful of people who could've pulled the plug on (the chase), and they didn't. That disturbs me."

McDermott said Wednesday's accident was the second at that intersection in less than a year. A Lake County sheriff's officer was injured in June after a truck struck his squad car while he was responding to a drunk-driving call.

Employees at AAC Orthodontics in Munster cried upon hearing about the death of the little girl they'd seen an hour before the crash.

"She was our patient, and she just left our office after her orthodontic checkup. Her grandmother always brought her to her appointments," said Cindy Sosby, a dental assistant for AAC. "I worked on her braces many times, and she was a very nice girl.

"We're all just heartbroken. We keep thinking if only she would have had a longer appointment here, this wouldn't have happened to her."

AAC Office Manager Gail Repay said Chambers was one of their last appointments of the day.

"We're just sick about it," she said.

A woman at Paramo's house in Whiting said the family wasn't home, but a neighbor who asked that his name not be used, said the girl's mother would drop her and her siblings off at Paramo's while she went to work.

"All those kids were good; she was here playing in the neighborhood just a couple weeks ago when it was warm out," the neighbor said. "To raise a kid for 13 years to have some idiot take her and maybe the grandma, too, I feel so sorry for them."

The Durango's passenger was taken to Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus in Gary with minor injuries, according to Hammond police. The driver and passenger of the Durango were in custody, police said.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

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